The south peak (L) and north peak of Denali from Denali Viewpoint South in Denali National Park near Trapper Creek, Alaska, on September 20, 2022.
President-elect Donald Trump has once again suggested he wants to revert the name of North America’s tallest mountain — Alaska's Denali — to Mount McKinley, wading into a sensitive and decades-old conflict about what the peak should be called.
Former President Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has endeavored to change place-names considered disrespectful to Native people.
“Denali” is an Athabascan word meaning “the high one" or “the great one.” A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak “Mount McKinley” after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. That name was formally recognized by the U.S. government until Obama changed it over opposition from lawmakers in McKinley's home state of Ohio.
Trump suggested in 2016 that he might undo Obama's action, but he dropped that notion after Alaska's senators objected. He raised it again during a rally in Phoenix on Sunday.
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“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,” Trump said Sunday. “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people.”
Once again, Trump's suggestion drew quick opposition within Alaska.
“Uh. Nope. It’s Denali,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki posted on the social platform X Sunday night.
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Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who for years pushed for legislation to change the name to Denali, conveyed a similar sentiment in a post of her own.
“There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote on X.
Various tribes of Athabascan people have lived in the shadow of the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain for thousands of years.
McKinley, a Republican native of Ohio who served as the 25th president, was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York.
Alaska and Ohio have been at odds over the name since at least the 1970s. Alaska had a standing request to change the name since 1975, when the legislature passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond appealed to the federal government.
Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round, with powerful winds that make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it.
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Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.
